Belt-holding pawls for machine guns



Jan. 13 2mm.

C. G. SWEBILIUS BELT-HOLDING PAWLS FOR MACHINE GUNS Filed May 26, 1944 CARL G. Swesuuus WMM ATTORNEYS Patented Jan. 1, 1946 BELT-HOLDING PAWLS FOR MACHINE GUNS Carl G. Swebilius, Hamden, Conn., assignor to The High Standard Manufacturing Company, Hamden, Conn., a corporation of Connecticut Application May 23,1944, Serial No. 537,440

2 Claims.

' The present invention relates to improvements in machine guns and. relates more particularly to improvements in belt-holding pawls for machine uns.

The belt-holding pawls of the present invention of the machine gun.

of a cartridge-belt.

the machine-gun structure. 1

tain modes of carrying out the present invention are shown for illustrative purposes:

Fig. 1 is a broken perspective view of the trunnion-block of a Browning-type machine gun, together with portions of the complemental side- 5 are adapted for use in connection with machine plates, and showing a pair of belt-holding pawls guns of the so-called Browning t which constructed in accordance with the present intype of machine gun is disclosed in detail in Vention. as being mounted in P United States Patent No. 1,682,226 dated May 10, 2 is a t a sv s i al vi w ta n n the line 22 of Fig. 1 but showing, in addition, In machine guns of the Browning type abov the cover-plate, belt-feed slide cartridge-belt and referred to, it is the practice to employ a beltassociated features; holding pawl which serves to prevent th t Fig. 3 is a brokendetail sectional view taken grade movement of the cartridge-belt and its load on e 111 1e of F a e of cartridges, as the feed-pawl moves back to 4 1S a perspectlve V w 0f the group comsecure a fresh engagement to efiect a subsequent plilsmglthe tWO belt-holdlng paWlS and their 6011' step in the step-by-step movement of the carplmg's tridge-belt and its charge of cartridges. In ef- The macmne'gun Structure shown inqludes the forts to speed-up the rate of .50 caliber and other -P P the respective oppo' 1arge ca1iber machine guns f the Browning type 20 site sides of which are rigidly secured the forto secure a greater rate of fire, great difficulty W two complfemerttal slde'plates has been encountered in insuring the consistent and z as shown a extgnd af performance of the belt-feed mechanism and as- Yg yg fi en 0 i sociated parts. In instances especially where O provl or e accommo o e s i of the machine gun, such as tne barrel-extension metal-link cartridge-beltsare employed one car- 5 and the rear end of the barrel. The said truntridge is apt to become canted with respect to an mon-block I0 is formed with a central-longiadjacent cartridge, with the liability that the l tudmal passage [3 designed and adapted to probelt-holdmg pawl as ordinarily constructed and vide for the passage of the barrel of the machine arranged, W111 fail to properly hold the belt and thus ermit a retrograde movement thereof hen gun m a manner wen known m the th d 1 i th t Rigidly secured to the outer face of the side- I e 68 2 1 re 1s 0 e0 s plate II above referred to, is a longitudinally-ex- 0 ii there provld? tending bracket :4 having its upper surface gengupenor 0 mg P Wm a erally corresponding to the upper surface of the iz m g gmrfent Succee P cartndgfi m adjacent portion of the trunnion-block Ill and the be an hus Insure the comm-wed operatwn adjacent cut-away portion of the side-plate H. t f Secured to the outer face of the side-plate I2 is s her i 0 the t mventlon 13,150 a bracket l5 generally corresponding to the provi easuperiorbelt-holding-pawl construction bracket My save that it faces in an opposite having a plurality of independently-movable 40 direction. pawls to insure against the retrograde movement About midway f its length, each f the brackets l4 and I5 is formed in its upper face with a Anther 010160? of preent 111Vent}n 15 to transverse groove 15 having a front wall-portion Provide supemol" multl'umt beltf'holdlng pawl l1 anda rear wall-portion l8. Adjacent its outer ha slmple rehable and efieemve means for 4 end, each of the wall-portions l1 and I8 is formed holding a plurality of DEIWIS in proper relationship with a passage [9 arranged in axial alignment to facilitate their installation and. removal from with the Similar passage in the complemental wall-portion, and adapted to receive a pivot- With the above and other objects in view, as pin 20; l pp r 170 those skilled n t a t Om th Mounted in the transverse groove It in the present disclosure, this invention includes all bracket l5 are a pair of complemental belt-holdfeatures in the said disclosure which are novel ing pawls 2| and 22 having their outer ends turnoverthe prior art and which are not claimed in ing about the pivot-pin 20 in a manner as will hereinafter appear. The inner or free ends of any separate application. t the accompanying drawing, in which certhepawls 2l' and 22 are adapted to engage with transverse groove I6 of the bracketld, in the event that it is desired to have the cartridgebelt feed from the opposite side of the machine gun.

with a passage 25 sized to receive' the pivot pin with just sufiicient clearance to'fpermit the free swinging movement of the pawl 2|. The

passage just referred to extends from the for ward face of the pawl 2| to apoint substantially midway the width of the saidpawl, and communicates with a coaxialsocket 26 in the rear portion of the pawl 2|. The diameter of the socket 26 is larger thanthe diameter of the passage 25 and is adapted to freely receive the for.- ward end of a coupling-sleeve 21.

The internal diameterof the aforesaid coupling-sleeve21 corresponds to the diameter'of thepassage 25 before referred to; The complemental pawl 22 is formed in its forward portion with a socket 28 extending from the front edge or face thereof rearwardly to a point about halfway of the width of the pawl 22,.and is sized to freely receive the rear portion of the couplingslceve fl. The rear'portion of the pawl 22 is formed with a passage 29 of smaller diameter than the socket 28, though coaxial therewith, and sized to freely receive the pivot-pin 20 before referred to. The depth from rear to front of the socket 26 in the pawl 2| is so related to the length of the coupling-sleeve 21 as to accommodate slightly less than the forward half thereof. Similarly', the depth of the socket 28 from front to rear is also such as to accommodate slightly less A of twopawl-springs 3|3|,'one of which latter is located adjacent each of the pawls 2| and 22. The upper face of each of the transverse grooves Ifi lfi in the respective brackets l4 and I5 is formed with two spring-receiving pockets 32-32. The spring-receiving pockets 32 32 in the bracket is respectively receive the lower ends of the adjacent one of the two pawl-springs 3|-=3-|. Whenv the pawls 2| and '22 are shifted from the right side of the machine gun to the left side thereof, the spring-receiving pockets 32-32 in the bracket I4 will, of course, then receive the lower ends of the pawl-springs 3|'-;=-3l.

As thus constructed and arranged, each of the pawls 2| and 22 may be independently pivoted about the pivot-pin 20 as a center, against the tension of its individual awl-spring. 3|. 'In this manner, the pawls may act independently to insure the firm engagement of at least one of the said pawls with a given link 23 of the'cartridgebelt, even'though the other pawl maybe held In its forward portion, thei'ipawljl isfoi'hied T and hence, also,'the belt-feeding pawl 33 are re- V in an inoperative position, due to misalignment of the cartridges, or for other cause.

By employing a coupling-sleeve 21 or its equivalent, the two pawls 2| and 22 may be assembled together and held in such position by the said coupling-sleeve while being installed in the given transverse groove l6 against the tension of the pawl-springs 3|3|. Under these circumstances, the entry of the pivot-pin 20 into one of the pawls will automatically insure its free passage through the other pawl.

In a manner well known in the art, the cartridge-belt and the charge of cartridges 24 are fedfroin right to left. overthe belt-holding pawls 2| and 22 by ,means of a belt-feeding pawl 33 Zpivotallymounted-in a belt-feeding slide 34, as

is indicated in Fig. 2. The belt-feeding slide 34 cipr'ocated crosswise of the machine gun in any suitable manner well understood in .theart, and have a stroke ju t suflicien't to successively bring the cartridges 24 into a central position withrespect to the machine-gun structure for being ex tracted from the belt and inserted into the firing-chamber of the machine, gun, allin a an ner well understood in'the art. i

As each successive cartridge is pulled over the free ends of the pawls 2| and 22 thesaid free ends will yield downwardly and as soon as the given cartridge has passed, one or more of the belt holding pawls 2! and 22 will spring up: to engage with the link 23 of the given-cartridge and thus hold the entire series thereof against retrograde movement, while -the belt feeding pawl 33 is retiring, preparatory to another feeding action. a I

The inventionmay be carried out in other spe cific ways than those herein set forth without departing from the spirit and essential characteristics of the invention, and the present embodiments are, therefore, to be considered in all respeCtS as illustrative and not restrictive,- and all changes coming within the meaning and equivalency range of the appended claims are intended to be embracedthereim Iclaim: M

1. In .a machine gun structure, the combina- 'tion with the frame and the. belt feeding mecha movement, the said pawls being arranged side by side with one in front of theother and each of the said pawls being formed with a socket inits side adjacent its complemental pawl, each vof the said pawls also being formed in its portion remote from its complemental pawl witha pivot receiving passage; a coupling-sleeve extending into the respective sockets in the two said pawls, a pivot-member extending through therespec tive pivot-receiving passages of thesaid two pawls and through the interior of thesaid coupling-sleeve and pivotally interconnecting the two said belt-holding pawls to the frame of the machine-gun. structure with capacity for independent pivotal movement with respect thereto and with. respect to" each other; and springlocated adjacent the said belt-feeding mechanism in position to engage with a cartridge-belt to hold the same against retrograde movement, the said pawls being arranged side by side and each thereof being formed with a socket in its side adjacent the other pawl, each of the said pawls being also formed in its portion remote from the other pawl with a pivot-receiving passage arranged coaxially with respect to the similar passage of the other pawl; a coupling-sleeve extending into the respective sockets in the two said pawls; a pivot-member extending through the respective pivot-receiving passages of the said two pawls and through the interior of the said coupling-sleeve and pivotally-interconnecting the two said belt-holding pawls to the frame of the machine-gun structure with capacity for independent pivotal movement with respect thereto and with respect to each other; and spring-means individually and independently urging the respective free ends of the two said pawls toward the said cartridge-belt for engagement therewith.

CARL G. SWEBILIUS. 

